Chapter 87. Me and Hyeol Hwa….
‘This place isn’t safe either!’
Won Seung couldn’t afford to get crushed. Amid the fierce battle, he slipped quietly under the sparring platform and climbed onto the roof of a massive warehouse.
Now the entire battlefield lay before his eyes.
He could see Hwa Cheon-un charging in from the Cheongsu Gate side with dozens of warriors.
‘If Hwa Cheon-un’s come personally, Cheon Il-hae won’t be far behind.’
Forget the three-way duel—tonight might settle everything.
Did this favor Yong Jo-un?
Pyeong In-gang had sent a separate messenger when he fired the signal flare. For an accurate report, a person had to go.
The messenger raced like the wind to Cheon Il-hae’s office.
And… he saw Cheon Il-hae had taken his own life.
Gwancheonbang was thrown into chaos.
With the emergency signal, Cheon Il-hae’s guards rushed to the office.
Guard captain U Pyeong was baffled.
The gang leader had killed himself? It was utterly incomprehensible. He couldn’t even imagine someone murdering Cheon Il-hae and staging it as suicide.
Not only would breaching the guards be secondary, but Cheon Il-hae wouldn’t have meekly offered his neck.
“Hurry and lower the body!”
As U Pyeong untied the curtain rope with his men to bring down Cheon Il-hae’s corpse, someone entered.
“I heard the emergency signal—what’s going on? Brother… uh?!”
Ilgwon Pasan Cheon Seok-san stopped mid-sentence, mouth agape at the sight of Cheon Il-hae’s body.
Cheon Seok-san couldn’t return to the clan until he killed Won Seung. So Cheon Il-hae had given him a room in the gang’s rear garden.
Cheon Seok-san had holed up there, training his martial arts.
The past eight years fleeing Kwon-wang’s wrath and holing up in the clan had been the same routine of endless training.
Thanks to that, he now thought he could match Kwon-wang.
A signal flare burst far off, and the estate buzzed with activity, but Cheon Seok-san trained alone in his courtyard.
Then the outer estate grew uproarious, and the emergency signal rang out.
He couldn’t ignore it anymore.
He came to Cheon Il-hae’s office and found… something unbelievable.
“Brother committed suicide?”
Cheon Seok-san glared at guard captain U Pyeong.
His fierce eyes demanded, Does that even make sense?
U Pyeong flinched and pointed alternately at the beam and Cheon Il-hae’s body.
“He hanged himself from that beam. The first discoverers were the messenger and the guard at the door. Both saw it together—no mistake.”
“Hmph…”
Cheon Seok-san examined the body. Not a scratch. The curtain used for hanging was right there in the room.
At this point, it was incomprehensible, but… Cheon Il-hae had indeed killed himself.
“Unbelievable. Why make that choice?”
Was tomorrow’s three-way duel that terrifying?
Then the messenger mumbled.
“What now? The warriors at the warehouse wharf are all but dead… If we can’t send reinforcements, shouldn’t we at least signal retreat?”
A thought flashed through Cheon Seok-san’s mind.
He said to U Pyeong.
“We can’t do that! Do you know who I am?”
“Yes, the gang leader’s cousin, right?”
“Assemble a relief force. I’ll lead it! We have to save our brothers first, don’t we?”
U Pyeong bolted out at Cheon Seok-san’s words.
“Guards! Assemble! Summon all remaining warriors!”
Cheon Seok-san stuck out his tongue at the dead Cheon Il-hae’s body and muttered inwardly.
‘Heaven’s giving me this chance. To reward my years stuck in Sangyang like this…’
With Cheon Il-hae dead, he—the only blood relative—naturally inherited Gwancheonbang.
‘Kuhaha. Thanks, brother. I’ll give you a grand funeral!’
As Cheon Seok-san left the office, he shouted to the gathered Gwancheonbang members.
“Let’s go! Save our brothers!”
Cheon Seok-san led the charge toward the warehouse wharf. Gwancheonbang warriors followed with torches, faces grim and resolute.
When Cheongsu Gate warriors burst in, Pyeong In-gang—fighting Hwa U-geuk—panicked.
‘That’s Hwa Cheon-un?’
The third gate lord himself! He quickly scanned for their top expert, Gwan Ju-gyeon.
Gwan Ju-gyeon, struck in the chest by Yang Gwan, had briefly lost consciousness but now clutched his broken ribs, snarling as he approached Yang Gwan’s corpse.
‘This is bad!’
Pyeong In-gang saw Gwan Ju-gyeon’s staggering gait and knew he was gravely wounded.
‘Where the hell are reinforcements?’
Warrior numbers were even, but they had Hwa Cheon-un and Hwa U-geuk—two peak experts. He couldn’t handle them alone. They might all perish.
Considering retreat, Pyeong In-gang wildly swung his sword to force Hwa U-geuk back.
They separated by about a zhang.
In the brief gap, Hwa U-geuk yelled at his third uncle.
“That bastard killed Elder Yang!”
Hwa Cheon-un started at his words.
Yang Gwan was dead?
Hwa Cheon-un’s gaze followed Hwa U-geuk’s point. Some guy staggered toward the fallen corpse… and the body looked familiar.
Yang Gwan… dead? His heart sank.
Dosanrim’s five experts should’ve been intact.
But… what was that guy doing?
The staggering figure approached Yang Gwan’s body and raised his blade high.
Hwa Cheon-un snapped to attention and bellowed.
“Stop!”
Gwan Ju-gyeon planned to sever the head of the man who’d gravely wounded him and hang it at Gwancheonbang’s main gate.
Kuhuhu… The Sangyang mad dog catches a Geom-yakjong elder… This needs to spread across the world.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
With broken ribs making movement agony, he struck the collarbone instead of the neck.
As Gwan Ju-gyeon raised his blade for the neck, Hwa Cheon-un shot forward like lightning.
Stab!
Gwan Ju-gyeon gaped at the sword protruding from his chest. He turned to look behind.
Hwa Cheon-un glared down with terrifying eyes.
“You dare defile Geom-yakjong Elder Yang’s corpse?”
Even dead, the body needed respectful recovery and return to Geom-yakjong.
Grrr…
‘I killed him, so I get the head…’
What’s your problem… He wanted to say, but couldn’t open his mouth.
Thud!
Gwan Ju-gyeon collapsed atop Yang Gwan’s body.
Later, murim histories recorded that the Sangyang mad dog slew Geom-yakjong Elder Yang Gwan in the warehouse wharf battle and died heroically.
“Recover Elder Yang’s body!”
Hwa Cheon-un ordered his warriors and surveyed the area.
‘Elder Yang chased Won Seung—that kid. Why fight here?’
Then he spotted an odd corpse near the sparring platform. Mouth agape, sprawled in a big X—curious, he checked and was shocked.
‘Gwancheonbang’s chief steward? What happened?’
Gu Ja-ang had died miserably. Paralyzed by poison needles, sprawled out, then trampled amid the frenzied clash of Gwancheonbang and Cheongsu Gate warriors.
‘What the hell went down?’
Curious, but no time for deep thought.
Hwa Cheon-un spotted torches swarming from Gwancheonbang’s side in the distance.
He didn’t know why this fight started, but… no need to drag out a pointless brawl.
“U-geuk! Retreat!”
Hwa U-geuk bristled at the order but couldn’t defy his third uncle.
“Count yourself lucky today.”
He spat at his rival Pyeong In-gang, then rallied his men.
“Hmph! All talk from a coward fleeing with tail between his legs!”
Pyeong In-gang shot back at Hwa U-geuk’s retreating back.
Cheongsu Gate warriors, securing Yang Gwan and their comrade’s bodies, ebbed away like the tide from the warehouse wharf.
Gwancheonbang warriors filled the void.
Seeing vanguard captain U Pyeong race ahead, Pyeong In-gang grew puzzled.
U Pyeong rarely left Cheon Il-hae’s side. That meant the one leading the main force behind was Cheon Il-hae himself.
“Captain U? The gang leader’s coming personally?”
“Ah, Elder Pyeong… Over here a moment…”
U Pyeong pulled Pyeong In-gang aside and explained.
“What? The gang leader took his own life?”
Pyeong In-gang cried out in shock.
“Shh! Most of the gang doesn’t know yet.”
“Then who’s commanding now?”
Pyeong In-gang’s gaze shifted to Cheon Seok-san, who’d led the group.
“The gang leader’s cousin. Known as a top expert.”
“I see. Where is he now?”
U Pyeong led Pyeong In-gang to Cheon Seok-san, who was directing the main force.
Pyeong In-gang wasn’t the only shocked one.
Won Seung, on the warehouse roof above, overheard their whispers.
‘Cheon Il-hae committed suicide? What kind of nonsense is this?’
Ahead of tomorrow’s three-way duel, had mental pressure broken him?
Cheon Il-hae’s face floated in Won Seung’s mind.
‘No way. That guy wouldn’t kill himself.’
Not suicide, then murder.
A disguise so perfect even his confidants believed it… the work of a master assassin.
The top assassins in Sangyang right now…
‘Me and Hyeol Hwa….’
Not me, so Hyeol Hwa!
But why would Hyeol Hwa…?
Ah, Gwancheonbang stabbed her in the back! That made sense.
Early evening, Yong Jo-un said he’d release Hyeol Hwa…
‘Damn, she went straight to work the moment she was free? True Haeyeonmun special assassin.’
Won Seung was genuinely impressed.
Then, an unforgettable voice rang out.
“First, regroup and return to base!”
Won Seung’s eyes bulged as he scanned the wharf square. Amid flickering torches, he spotted Cheon Seok-san.
‘That bastard!’
The guy who tried to kill me…
He’d just heard this was the one now commanding the gang, Cheon Il-hae’s cousin.
So… Ilgwon Pasan Cheon Seok-san was Gwancheonbang’s hidden number two!
Bi Jangno, having lost his confidant Jwa Hu, was furious to his core. When Yong Jo-un ignored him, killing intent surged, and he unleashed his falcon.
He charged with Chuhyeol Eumpil at the fore.
He’d figured a Yong descendant challenging Hwa Cheon-gang must be skilled, but not a Musanggok graduate.
Plus, the guy had thrown his greatsword—empty-handed… Wait, no.
He drew a bizarre ladder-shaped sword from his back.
‘Hmph!’
Didn’t matter—he’d die by Bi Jangno’s hand anyway.
Bi Jangno poured inner energy into Chuhyeol Eumpil.
Yong Jo-un abhorred needless killing, but he wasn’t merciful enough to spare foes charging to murder him.
Hearing “Jeokhyeolsan elder” hadn’t endeared him—assassins were no better than demonic outlaws to him.
Plus, he’d seen Bi Jangno ambush and kill Hyeol Hwa’s subordinates, who were inferior to him.
No mercy, then.
Gripping his cherished sword—the Musangdo he’d honed himself—he slashed down like lightning.
Shiiiik!
Bi Jangno, leading with Chuhyeol Eumpil, sensed the unnatural power in the diagonal downward slash. Instinct screamed danger. He hurled his left silver brush at Yong Jo-un’s throat and infused his right with energy to block the Musangdo.
But the descending Musangdo vanished, and a flash streaked before his eyes!
Kwajik!